Beeb: No danger to Earth from collision. "It's something really huge smashing into the Moon. It's not remotely dangerous, we can just watch the show," says Dr Matt Bothwell, public astronomer at the University of Cambridge. Matt does seem inordinately pleased about this event.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202... "Farage is not overburdened by electioneering chores. No one expects Count Binface, the most prominent of 33 novelty or fringe opponents also competing, to trouble the incumbent on 13 August" But he is troubled, he may have sunk Reform UK.

‘The lead singer is unavailable’: Is Nigel Farage spending his summer in hiding?

The Reform UK leader is keeping a low profile and his approval ratings have sunk since Burnham took office. What’s the outlook for the Clacton byelection?

theguardian.com

These are dreadful events. But I can´t stop wondering why the organisers, police and local government cannot protect the public from these copy-cat attacks? Road closures, physical barriers? www.bbc.com/news/live/c3...

Police hunt suspect as one killed and 16 injured after attack at Berlin Pride event

Police are searching for a man named Abdul B after a car was driven into a crowd and several people were reportedly stabbed.

bbc.com

England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 vs Spain 🇪🇸 26 September, UEFA Nations League. The footballing Gods' keep giving ...

What`s up? Well, why is Spotify becoming such a pain?. I am being asked to select motorbikes, buses, fire hydrants over and over, with increasingly blurry images. I know that it is about selling data to Sam Altman & Co. But after 10+ "challenges" I am just not bothered to continue.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if Farage loses his deposit in the Clacton by-election? How much of his 2024 support will want to turn up at the polls? He would be buried politically. And Reform`s credibility will be shot, plus only having 4 elected MPs and 3 Tory defections. Vote Count Binface!

With all that dodgy money couldn`t Farage spend a few quid on a decent suit? Kudos to Carole Cadwalladr: she has been reporting on George Cottrell - Farage`s sugar daddy - and other far-right rich creeps for years, who continue to be a treat to democracy in the UK.

africasacountry.com/2026/06/alwa... A really good article by Lester Kiewit writing about South African pianist and composer Abdullah Ibrahim, a difficult man if not sometimes curmudgeonous. The talent, the public and private faces. Identity and belonging.

Always searching

Abdullah Ibrahim was difficult, suspicious, and brilliant. And beneath all of it, he was searching for home.

africasacountry.com

Keir Starmer was the leader of the opposition for 4 years, won a landslide victory in 2024, now being pushed out by the British media? Andy Burnham has signed up to Treasury fiscal rules and defense spending. Trump is supposedly a good communicator...

David Hockney. Great and innovative artist, who seemed to enjoy life to the full.

Girona FC are in a relegation spot of bother for the last fixtures in La Liga this evening. In 18th place with 40 pts, playing in Montilivi vs Elche in 17th with 42 pts. Only a win will do.

Or: Nato countries 'disappointment' with Trump will be discussed at summit? www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

Marco Rubio: Trump ‘disappointment’ with Nato will be discussed at summit

Secretary of state suggests July meeting of alliance will be fraught as US demands help in strait of Hormuz

theguardian.com

Isn't this great? Go to a demo, in London, make your point, then go home. On the Tube. Quietly.

An early sunny morning for Girona's Temps de Flors. Good to see that the organisers have made a big decisive step towards organic displays.

So Wes Streeting resigns. This is the guy with a 528 majority in the 2024 general election (78,657 total votes). A right-of-centre Bairite. Seems to have done very little as an MP or as a Minister. On Britain's Got Talent he would flop.

The convolutions of US (almost) post-Trump politics. Rubio repeats criticisms of reluctance of NATO countries to enter illegal Iran conflict, but has nothing to say about Saudi pullback: Saudis no longer paying $ for oil, pulling back from US arms purchases, & supporting Palestine

Back up into the hills above Girona for the Traka 100km event. Here is the early race leaders' group

I went to watch the Traka 325km gravel bike race at dawn this morning from Puig Estela. This is about 14km from the start at about 370m. The men's pro leader passed in 30 min, which is quite fast. The women's pro group started 10 min later, follwed by the rest after another 10 min interval.

www.theguardian.com/business/202... easyJet say: “We have visibility to the middle of May and we have no concerns.” Setting aside the tortured English does this suggest that the airline will get you to your destination but may not necessarily bring you back?

Europe has only six weeks’ supply of jet fuel left owing to Iran war, says energy chief

There will be flight cancellations ‘soon’ if oil supplies are not restored in coming weeks, says head of IEA

theguardian.com

This weekend's La Liga retro look is going to matched by retro entrance prices, retro players' fees and retro management and directors´s cost. Or not.

Curious BBC map, almost makes it seem like Lebanon and Israel are one country.

Global warming Is accelerating & will breach the Paris target by around 2030. We have all got to do much more and do it faster to reduce our own and our collective emissions. e360.yale.edu/digest/warmi...

Global Warming Is Accelerating, Study Shows

e360.yale.edu

www.theguardian.com/business/202... Interesting that even The Guardian calls this the Iran War. A horrible regime no doubt, but this is an Israeli-US war. An illegal attack. Israel intent on destroying south Beirut, replaying the Gaza bombing, also illegal, declared genocide by the iCC.

Iran war pushes oil price above $90 threatening rise in global inflation

Reports Kuwait was cutting output pushed up cost of barrel of Brent crude to highest weekly gain since pandemic began

theguardian.com

This is a counterpoint to (1) carbon pollution and (2) the Israeli-US illegal attacks and bombings in both Iran and Lebanon. Day 7. Kudos to Pedro Sanchez.

Great driver skills

It hardly rained in this part of Catalunya during February. Now it is the Rally Costa Brava (historic cars thankfully) it's been pouring.

" If reading really was such an immense pleasure, wouldn’t people be doing it anyway? " Charlotte Higgins makes some good points in The Guardian. shorturl.at/bZWDJ. I was lucky, my parents read, my primary school had a library, there was a nearby public library. Reading became a life-long habit.

The National Year of Reading celebrates the ‘joy’ of books. But let’s not forget they can also be deeply troubling, too | Charlotte Higgins

Encounters with great art can be absorbing, unsettling and even painful. How has this been tamed into ‘reading for pleasure’, asks Charlotte Higgins, the Guardian’s chief culture writer

shorturl.at

Early morning Sunday hike throught the Gavarres forest landscape above Girona. I followed the stream (Torrent Estela) in the center of this photo, up to Puig Estela (387m), lovely birdsong.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202... Bread and guns. "Top British and German trade unionists press 'moral' case for socialism".

Top British and German military chiefs press ‘moral’ case for rearmament

Defence chiefs write joint appeal urging public to prepare for threat of war with Russia with attendant costs

theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/f... Goodness: gentlemen, get your hands out of your pockets! It is some sort of formal occasion, so behaving according is expected? Andy Farrell seems to have just gotten out of bed. The Six Nations is not publicly funded, but the teams are national representives.

Six Nations form guide: how the 2026 contenders are shaping up

England are bullish, France are in flux, while Wales will be hoping just to beat Italy and avoid the wooden spoon

theguardian.com